Effects of counselor sex,student sex,and student attractiveness on counselors' judgments

Thirty-two male and thirty-two female high school counselors in a large metropolitan school district were provided with routine student profile data and asked to make predictions about the student's potential for post-high school education and to suggest occupations for the student to explore. All data reviewed by the counselors were identical except for a photograph of the student attached to the profile. Within counselor sex groups, counselors were randomly assigned to one of the following four photograph conditions: (a) attractive female; (b) unattractive female; (c) attractive male; and (d) unattractive male. Male subjects were found to discriminate on the basis of student sex when they suggested occupations for the student to explore. Predictions of post-high school education and the social status of suggested occupations were not found to be related to counselor sex, student sex, or student attractiveness.     

Models of the relationship between genetic counselor and client

Three alternative models of the relationship between genetic counselors and clients are typified by the paternalistic professional, the expert consultant, and the autonomous client. Kant's principle of autonomy stipulates that the agent with rational will is to be treated as an end in itself rather than merely as a means to an end. Mutual respect between two such autonomous agents, in our case a genetic counselor and a client, will dictate elements of the clinical encounter.     

Socialization of sex roles in the counseling setting: Differential counselor behavioral and attitudinal responses to typical and atypical female sex roles

Counseling and therapy have frequently been attacked by feminists for the role they play in socializing women to a limited and ultimately untenable sex role. Male counselors in particular have been singled out as special oppressors of women. This study attempted to determine whether, in fact, counselor behavior and attitudes operated as a means of sex-role socialization, and whether male counselors tended to be more biased than female counselors when interacting with female clients. Subjects were eight male and eight female graduate students in counseling psychology who conducted initial interview sessions with two client-confederates, volunteer graduate students trained in role-playing situations representing a typical and an atypical sex-role condition. Videotapes of the interviews were subsequently analyzed to assess counselor reinforcement patterns of specific client cue sentences. In addition to these behavioral data, paper-and-pencil inventories were used to determine counselors' perception of clients, counselors' degree of attitudinal sex-stereotyping, and client-confederates' subjective evaluation of counselors. Contrary to expectations, results indicated that counselors as a whole exhibited more behavioral bias with typical than with atypical clients. Further, counselors reacted more positively toward the atypical than toward the typical clients, and counselor response to a global sex-role inventory indicated that counselors described the healthy, well-adjusted female as significantly more instrumental than the healthy, well-adjusted male. Female counselors appeared to be both more reinforcing and less punishing than male counselors with female clients in both roles, as well as less behaviorally biased than the male counselors. Female counselors also evaluated the atypical clients more positively than did the male counselors, and were in turn evaluated more positively than were the male counselors by clients in both roles. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for counselor training.     

The effect of client attachment style and counselor functioning on career exploration

This longitudinal research investigated the interactive effect of social attachment style and perceived-counselor behavior on exploratory behavior exhibited by clients during and after career counseling. Results from 96 clients in career counseling indicated that social confidence and comfort, and the perception that the counselor had created social comfort and personal security, enhanced the range and effectiveness of career exploration by the client. The counselor’s functioning as a “secure base” moderated the association between clients’ avoidance and anxiety attachment style and their career exploration. Specifically, when the clients who were high in social avoidance or in social anxiety perceived-counselors as providing an atmosphere in which they feel secure, they engaged in career exploration far more than similar clients who did not perceive their counselor as a secure base.     

The effect of client attachment style and counselor functioning on career exploration

This longitudinal research investigated the interactive effect of social attachment style and perceived-counselor behavior on exploratory behavior exhibited by clients during and after career counseling. Results from 96 clients in career counseling indicated that social confidence and comfort, and the perception that the counselor had created social comfort and personal security, enhanced the range and effectiveness of career exploration by the client. The counselor’s functioning as a “secure base” moderated the association between clients’ avoidance and anxiety attachment style and their career exploration. Specifically, when the clients who were high in social avoidance or in social anxiety perceived-counselors as providing an atmosphere in which they feel secure, they engaged in career exploration far more than similar clients who did not perceive their counselor as a secure base.     

Counselor and client personality as determinants of counselor expectancy effects

Seventy-eight students enrolled in summer-session college courses were randomly assigned to serve either as counselors or as clients for a 20-min, role-played peer counseling session. All of the subjects completed a battery of standardized personality measures. Each counselor interacted with two clients. Prior to the sessions, the counselor was led to believe that one of the clients was especially introverted and that the other client was especially extraverted. Dependent measures were based on clients' change scores on a mood adjective rating scale administered before and after the peer counseling sessions. Analyses showed that counselors who were more successful at biasing their clients in the direction of their expectancies (a) scored higher on measures of Dogmatism, Nurturance, and Social Recognition, (b) scored lower on Impulsivity, and (c) were more likely to be women. Clients who were more susceptible to counselor bias scored higher on the Self-Monitoring Scale, the Self-Monitoring Other-Directedness subscale, and Social Recognition. These results are discussed in light of previous research and their implications for research on interpersonal expectancy effects.     

Effects of counselor intake judgments on service to black students using a university counseling center

The effect of counselor and client ethnicity and gender was examined using a four factor MANOVA. Although the statistical findings were non-significant, it is suggested that systematic biases based on client attributes may affect counselor's perceptions of clients thereby influencing diagnostic judgments and treatment choice.     

The impact of waiting-list times on client attendance for relationship counselling

The impact of waiting-list times on subsequent attendance for appointments has received extensive attention within the area of health, but hitherto has received relatively little interest from counselling services. Given the current pressure on all welfare agencies for accountability and efficient use of resources, counselling organisations need to consider resource usage and barriers to efficiency. A study was therefore made of one aspect of this issue: the impact of short v. long time-delays between initial referral and first appointment for relationship counselling. It was found that clients offered appointments within two weeks of referral were significandy more likely to attend for first appointment than were clients whose appointment came between 4 and 12 weeks post-referral. The implications of these results for organisational policy are discussed.     

Effects of profanity,touch, and sex of the counselor on perceptions of the counselor and behavioral compliance: Implications for rational-emotive therapists

The present study investigated the effects of profanity, touch, and sex of the counselor on perceptions of the counselor and on behavioral compliance. Ninety six undergraduate psychology students attended a self help presentation on principles of mental health, according to rational-emotive theory. At the end of each presentation the counselor recommended that the subject pick up a book request card (initial compliance) and mail it away (delayed compliance) in order to receive a free copy ofA New Guide To Rational Living. The subjects were also asked to rate their preceptions of the counselor on the dimensions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. The results indicated that the use of profanity led to significantly lower perceptions of trustworthiness and a significantly lower level of delayed compliance. Female counselors were rated as more expert, attractive, and trustworthy as compared with male counselors. There was no effect of touch on any of the dependent measures. Implications of these findings for the rational emotive therapist are discussed.This study is based upon a doctoral dissertation completed by the first author, under the direction of the second author.We would like to thank Jean Cirillo who prepared an initial version of the rational emotive, mental health lecture used in this study.Mindy Phillips Ph.D. is a school psychologist in the Farmingdale, N.Y. public schools. She completed her doctoral degree, including her training in RET, at Hofstra University.Howard Kassinove, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director for Clinical Psychology at Hofstra University in New York. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy and holds the ABPP diploma in Clinical Psychology.     

Lawyer and pastoral counselor: A team for divorce counseling

Conclusion The dull thud of the gavel ends a way of life. At the same time, a new status that is both easier and more difficult is created. Gone is the strain of an unhappy home full of bitterness, recriminations, and unhappy memories that can be recalled and repeated like peeling off the layers of an onion. On the horizon is a new way life, full of optimism and aspirations. Yet this new life is not without its own hazards. Life is like a river that may run smooth for a while but that ultimately will face rapids. We can almost hear the rapids in the distance and know they are there. We don't know now exactly what form they will take and exactly how they can be overcome.When spouses face a divorce, they are intimately involved in unfamiliar territory. With the help of a qualified pastoral counselor and an attorney functioning as an interdisciplinary team, they can face divorce and post-divorce problems bravely, in an informed manner, with proper perspective and realistically. Each should be prepared to discuss and evaluate the future relationship of the parties and their children in the areas of future finances, credit, the second marriage, visitation, relationship to the children, and their insurance estates. Then there are few surprises. The new life can begin with an increased awareness that prepares each party for future contingencies. Also, the lawyer and pastoral counselor become a supportive team who are available both now and in the future.     

An empirical examination of client attitudes towards online counseling.

Trends over the past decade have shown that online counseling has grown in terms of popularity among consumers and clinicians alike; however, little, if any empirical evidence exists that examines client attitudes towards online counseling as alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy. Therefore, this study investigated client attitudes towards online counseling. Data was collected from 48 e-clients who received online counseling at the Center for Online Addiction. Variables such as client perceptions and concerns about using online counseling, clients' reasons for seeking online counseling over in-office treatment, and demographic profiles of e-clients were assessed. Results suggested that Caucasian, middle-aged males, with at least a four-year bachelors degree were most likely to use online counseling and anonymity, convenience, and counselor credentials were the most cited reasons they sought online counseling over in-office treatment. The lack of perceived privacy and security during online chat sessions and the fear of being caught while conducting online sessions were the main concerns reported by e-clients. A better understanding of client motives and perceptions towards online counseling helps to guide treatment in using the Internet as a clinical tool, especially as the Internet becomes increasingly more available in previously remote markets and the field of online counseling continues to grow.     

Ratings of counselor expertness,attractiveness, and trustworthiness as a function of counselor sex role and subject feminist orientation

Sex Roles - This study investigated the effect of sex role-incongruent behavior upon evaluations of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, the extent to which these three...     

Relationships among client and counselor agreement about the working alliance, session evaluations, and change in client symptoms using response surface analysis

Two studies explored how counselor and client agreement on the therapy alliance, at the beginning of treatment, influenced early session evaluations and symptom change. Unlike prior studies that operationalized alliance convergence as either a profile similarity correlation or a difference score, the present study used polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine agreement. Study 1 explored the impact of working alliance congruence on session depth and smoothness at the 3rd session of treatment with 36 client-counselor dyads. Results revealed that session smoothness was greater when clients' and therapists' perceptions of the working alliance were in agreement and high compared with when they were in agreement and low. In addition, clients rated sessions less smooth when their ratings of the alliance were lower than their therapists' ratings of the alliance, and they rated sessions as more smooth when their ratings of the alliance were higher than their therapists' ratings of the alliance. The authors did not find a significant relationship with session depth. In Study 2, the authors explored the impact of working alliance congruence, at the 3rd session of therapy, on symptom change for 63 client-counselor dyads. Results revealed that as the therapist and client have more positive agreement on the perceived alliance at the beginning of the treatment, there is greater symptom change. The authors also found that the consequences of alliance disagreement are the same regardless of who rated the alliance higher than the other. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Exploring the effect of therapists' treatment practices on client attendance in community-based care for children

Sustained treatment attendance has been reported to be poor in publicly funded community-based clinic settings serving children and families. Several child and family characteristics have been shown to predict attendance in community-based care, but virtually no research has been conducted to examine how experiences in care, including psychotherapists' within-session practices, influence client attendance. The goal of this exploratory study was to examine how observed practice within sessions, in particular the extent to which therapists delivered elements consistent with evidence-based practices, impacts total number of sessions attended, while accounting for an array of other potential predictors. Participants include 181 children ages 4-13 and their parents entering a new episode of care for disruptive behavior problems in publicly funded clinics. Data sources include administrative billing records on treatment attendance; coded videotaped treatment sessions; and self-reports from children, parents, and therapists. Results indicate that parent education, service funding source, parent alliance with therapist, and therapist experience predicted number of sessions attended; intensity of evidence-based treatment techniques delivered to children was marginally associated with attendance (p = .059). Implications for improving engagement in community-based care are discussed.     

Individual differences in client reactions to counseling and psychotherapy: A challenge for research

Recent research is reviewed that suggests extensive individual differences in how clients respond to therapeutic interventions and therapist response modes. Three research strategies are proposed as parts of a therapeutic science that aims at both nomothetic generalizations and explications of idiographic meanings, while simultaneously confronting conceptual and methodological complexities arising from client individual differences in response to counseling.     

Effects of client presenting syndromes on client and therapist dominance and affiliation during early sessions of Rational-Emotive psychotherapy

This is a study of effects of presenting clinical status on interpersonal presentation during early Rational-Emotive therapy (RET). Independent variables were intake scores for clients from the axis I scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1983). Dependent variables, from audiotapes of sessions at the Institute for RET (IRET), were Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scale (IAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell and Phillips, 1988) ratings of clients and therapists. MCMI scales associated with stimulation seeking (N, hypomania; T, drug abuse) were significantly positively correlated with client dominance. Therapist affiliation was negatively correlated with all client MCMI scales, and these were significant for scales that assessed the most severe intake presenting problems (A, anxiety, D, dysthymia).     

Ethical issues in genetic counseling: A comparison of M.S. counselor and medical geneticist perspectives

New technologies available in the field of medical genetics have increased the importance of responsible ethical decision-making among genetic counselors. A 1985 national survey of M.D. and Ph.D. genetic counselors assessed ethical attitudes using case scenarios designed to simulate dilemmas faced in genetic counseling (Wertz and Fletcher, 1988b). The current study focuses on attitudes of M.S. genetic counselors using similar scenarios, allowing for effective comparisons. M.S. counselors were more willing than M.D. and Ph.D. counselors to maintain patient confidentiality when screening for Huntington's Disease and occupational diseases, and a greater number would agree to counsel patients pursuing prenatal testing for sex selection. A majority of M.S. counselors would disclose an XY karyotype to a phenotypically female patient. M.S. counselors reasoned that respect for patient autonomy and patient confidentiality justified their decisions in many cases. The importance of these principles is discussed and questioned.